The Phone Call

I was sitting at my kotatsu yesterday when my phone rang. Only two people call me. My husband and my friend Rinako. Rinako and I had talked about going to lunch today, so I just assumed it was her. It was my husband. He said "I'm so sorry to have to tell you this. Your father just called. Your mother has had a massive coronary." I understood the words, but my mind just kept telling me that "it isn't supposed to happen like this." My mother is only 62. She had breast cancer a few years ago, and the woman has smoked her entire adult life. But a heart attack was just very confusing. Mark talked to me for a long time, while we tried to process what little we knew. My father was too upset and too confused to be able to give Mark any details. After awhile I called my Dad. He was still very shaken. But I just asked questions, he answered to the best of his ability. When she was admitted to the hospital she had two blockages in her heart, and while they tried to clear those up and third developed. She began to vomit, and there was quite a bit of blood in the vomit. I asked if he had called my little brother, or my Aunt Betty. No, he said he hadn't been able to do that. He could barely call Mark (and calling me overseas was way out of his capabilities). I asked what hospital she was at. He didn't know...and he started to get upset that he didn't know the name of the hospital. But then he realized he had the phone number to her ICU nurse and gave me that. When I talked to the nurse, she said Mom had been alert earlier and had agreed to be intubated "just in case". So she had to be sedated as well. I have talked to the nurses two more times. She is showing slight improvement, but is still on the breathing machines and has a balloon pump in her heart to keep her blood pressure up. She has regained conciousness and has indicated that she isn't in any pain. But the condition is still guarded.